# Parm Bains

Paramvir "Parm" Bains is a Canadian politician who currently represents Steveston—Richmond East as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. In the 2021 Canadian federal election, he defeated incumbent Kenny Chiu.
Prior to his election, Bains was an instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Previously, he was a media and public relations officer with the provincial government. He ran for Richmond City Council in the 2018 British Columbia municipal elections. He was born into a Jat Sikh from Village Mahilpur, Punjab India that immigrated to Canada He is originally from Victoria, British Columbia. He is married and has two children.

## Chinese Interference allegations

In 2023, allegations surfaced that the Chinese government may have attempted to influence Parm Bains' 2021 election victory in Steveston—Richmond East. Reports indicated disinformation campaigns on Chinese-language platforms, such as WeChat and WhatsApp, targeted his opponent Kenny Chiu, a critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and sponsor of a foreign influence registry bill.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) documents flagged the riding as a potential target of interference. Bains denied that foreign interference played a role in his victory and insisted he won "fair and square."
In the 2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, he endorsed Mark Carney.

## Electoral history
### Federal elections

vte2021 Canadian federal election: Steveston—Richmond East :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Parm Bains | 16,543 | 42.47 | +7.36 | $107,393.91 |
| | Conservative | Kenny Chiu | 13,066 | 33.55 | –8.11 | $88,909.23 |
| | New Democratic | Jack Trovato | 7,525 | 19.32 | +4.25 | $9,430.58 |
| | People's | Jennifer Singh | 955 | 2.45 | – | $2,482.99 |
| | Green | Françoise Raunet | 860 | 2.21 | –4.87 | none listed |
| Total valid votes/expense limits | Total valid votes/expense limits | Total valid votes/expense limits | 38,949 | 100.00 | – | $108,448.59 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 363 | 0.92 | –0.10 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,312 | 52.77 | –4.17 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 74,503 |
| | Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | Swing | +7.74 |
| Source: Elections Canada |||||||

### Municipal elections

Top 8 candidates elected — Incumbents marked with "(X)". Elected members' names are in bold
2018 British Columbia municipal elections: Richmond City Council :
| Party | Council candidate | Vote | % |
| RITE Richmond | Carol Day (X) | 20,871 | 7.01 |
| Richmond Citizens' Association | Harold Steves (X) | 19,136 | 6.43 |
| Richmond Community Coalition | Chak Au (X) | 18,026 | 6.05 |
| Richmond First | Bill McNulty (X) | 17,242 | 5.79 |
| Richmond Citizens' Association | Kelly Greene | 16,464 | 5.53 |
| Richmond First | Linda McPhail (X) | 15,521 | 5.21 |
| RITE Richmond | Michael Wolfe | 13,627 | 4.58 |
| Independent | Alexa Loo (X) | 13,212 | 4.44 |
| Richmond First | Derek Dang (X) | 13,115 | 4.40 |
| Richmond First | Andy Hobbs | 12,336 | 4.14 |
| Richmond Citizens' Association | Judie Schneider | 11,672 | 3.92 |
| Richmond Community Coalition | Ken Johnston (X) | 11,161 | 3.75 |
| Richmond Community Coalition | Jonathan Ho | 11,140 | 3.74 |
| Richmond Citizens' Association | Jack Trovato | 10,915 | 3.67 |
| Richmond First | Sunny Ho | 8,933 | 3.00 |
| RITE Richmond | Niti Sharma | 8,917 | 2.99 |
| RITE Richmond | Henry Yao | 8,467 | 2.84 |
| Richmond First | Peter Liu | 8,357 | 2.81 |
| Richmond Community Coalition | Parm Bains | 7,973 | 2.68 |
| Independent | John Roston | 7,961 | 2.67 |
| Richmond Community Coalition | Melissa Zhang | 7,708 | 2.38 |
| Independent | Kerry Starchuk | 6,959 | 2.34 |
| Independent | Jason Tarnow | 5,720 | 1.92 |
| Independent | Adil Awan | 4,278 | 1.44 |
| Independent | Manjit Singh | 4,134 | 1.39 |
| Independent | Dennis Page | 3,478 | 1.17 |
| Independent | Andy Chiang | 3,337 | 1.12 |
| Independent | Theresa Head | 3,251 | 1.09 |
| Independent | Patrick J. Saunders | 2,241 | 0.75 |
| Independent | Zhe Zhang | 2,241 | 0.75 |